As we look forward to a new century, many wonder what it was like 100 years ago, on the threshold of the 20th century. A new film, America 1900, explores the issues of the day, many of which—the gulf between rich and poor, guerrilla warfare, sexism, racism—are with us to this day.

Celebrity shooters have it tough. When you're the 100th or the 1,000th to photograph Bill Clinton or Marlon Brando or the Rolling Stones, how do you make your work stand out from the rest? Back in the '40s, '50s, and '60s, Philippe Halsman created “jumpology” to relax and disarm the glitterati he shot so he could make unique, revealing portraits.

Imagine: an exotic location, fantastic flora and fauna, and a top photographer whose sole purpose is to instruct you and you alone. Tune in here. The ESPN cable channel is matching top photographers with celebrities for another season of “Canon Photo Safari.”

Huge waves of saltwater crash over your ship's Bow. Chunks of ice capable of sinking small countries slide by. Torrential winds plaster you against the deck, Fighting the elements, going head-to-head with Mother Nature, gasping for breath, you manage to slowly...slowly...raise your arm...squint into the tempest...and snap the picture.

Fine art photographer Norma Brown Hill had to think big—really big— when the Eden Roc Hotel in Florida commissioned her to decorate part of its lobby. Three 35mm negatives from her series on the Old Westbury Gardens had to cover three l5½×9½-foot sections of wall.

What are the three most important elements in a great shot? Lighting, lighting, and lighting!

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“Your Best Shot” Entry Rules: You may send up to 20 of your best shots (transparencies or prints no larger than 8×12) along with a daytime phone number and any pertinent technical data (such as camera, lens, exposure, film, filters, tripod) to "Your Best Shot,” POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY, P.O. BOX 1247, Teaneck, NJ 07666.

Light too low to autofocus? It’s the aid light to the rescue—or is it?

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Does your AF SLR have these features?

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How AF near-infrared aid-light grid patterns grew

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How wanting to shoot “panoramics” lea me into the evil of using a quartz databack

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Hybrid AFs, but not on SLRs

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Herbert Keppler

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It hardly seems just a baker’s dozen years since Minolta daringly introduced the Maxxum 7000, the first integral AF SLR system. Since then, zillions of new model autofocus Canons, Minoltas, Nikons, Pentaxes, and even one unique Contax (which focuses the body, not the lens) have successively poured from the designers’ drawing boards into the hands of purchasers.

With the E5, Nikon really thought in 1996 it had cooked Canon’s advanced-amateur/professional camera goose. Having carefully studied every Canon EOS-IN specification, Nikon engineers bettered many of them and added nifty new autofocus and metering touches of their own.

Back when most of his classmates were dealing with pimple creams and pom-poms, young Leland Davis was already nurturing a serious enthusiasm for photography. Son of a Palo Alto, California, pediatrician, Davis enrolled in photo courses, soaked up theory, bought a 35mm Contax II, shot film, and learned how to develop and print it—all before leaving junior high school.

To the tune of “It’s been a LONG, LONG time,” or maybe “How LONG has this been goin’ on?” may we present the latest champion in the point-and-shoot zoom wars, the Pentax IQZoom 200. Curiously, for the last few years Pentax has been competing with itself on this front.

Regardless of make, just about every point-and-shoot in tarnation has a button (or two or three or four) that defies pressing by normal human fingers. And sometimes these buttons are significant—like the button for fill flash or flash cancel. We’ve tried, and tried, and tried, to convince manufacturers to use bigger buttons or more finger-friendly controls (like dials) but by and large to no avail.

When we took this new Pentax model out of the box, our first reaction was, gee, another basic zoom camera. The Pentax IQZoom 140M is rather unprepossessing at first, you see, mostly because of its remarkably compact size. Then you notice that this isn’t another bread-and-butter 35-70mm model, but a superzoom with a 38-140mm range and a boatload of useful features.

We’ve been telling you this for so long, you’re sick of hearing it, we’re sure, but... Any camera with a built-in flash can produce redeye in your subjects. Period. And the only antiredeye device that’s 100 percent effective is the flash-off switch.

It’s more than hillbilly heaven—how to uncover the best of the Arkansas Ozarks.

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The view from the fire tower

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Catch a bit of jam

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If You Go

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Bob Krist

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“Cameras are like cats: they can take a lot of abuse, but they hate to get dunked,” photographer Richard Brown once observed. His words echo in my ears as I watch a fellow traveler’s canoe capsize in a small but tricky area of rapids along Arkansas’ Buffalo National River.

“Musician with Guitar” scored an above-average favorable rating with POP PHOTO readers, garnering nearly two yea votes to every nay vote cast. But few of your responses were lukewarm—you either loved it or hated it. Generally, the thumbs-up crowd saw the picture as a pleasantly nostalgic ’90s reflection of the ’60s, and liked the off-center composition, the contrast between musician and background, and the subject’s face and expression.

Is “Painter’s Autumn” a well-composed evocation of pastoral tranquility or a trite attempt at a picture postcard? Does it evoke the bittersweet premonition that winter will soon come, or does it make you ill with cloying sentimentality?

Many pro photographers, especially studio shooters, never touch their cameras’ built-in meters. Instead, they rely on handheld, external meters. So why buy a camera with a built-in meter? Rollei pondered the question and, in answer, produced the 6001 Rolleiflex Professional, a (near) meterless addition to its 6000-series line of 6×6 SLRs. The 6001 ($3,200) accepts almost all 6000series accessories, including both Zeissand Schneider-made lenses; it features motorized film advance (to 1.5 fps), a rapid-recharge NiCd battery, and Rollei’s unique built-in darkslide for quick roll changing. The 6001 isn’t totally without a meter, though. A built-in flash-reading cell monitors exposure and tells you (post shutter release) whether your exposure was over, under, or on the mark. (Rollei Fototechnic, Inc., 40 Seaview Dr., Secaucus, NJ 07094.)

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Rollei Fototechnic, Inc.

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$29.95

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Got big pockets? Then you’ve got stowage for Slik’s 7¼-in. (folded) Mini Tripod. The company claims the 11-oz Mini, a two-sectioner with center column, steadies cameras or camcorders up to 2 lb, 12 oz in weight. Extending to a still-teeny 8½ in., the Mini ($29.95) was designed as a tabletop or chestpod, and is endowed with the hallmarks of its bigger prograde siblings, including relatively large, easy-grip locks (collar type), and lightweight but durable aluminum leg and centerpost sections, plus a novelty of its own: a suction cup at the nether end of its center column that lets you secure the Mini to a car hood or other slik, oops, slick surface. (ToCAD America, 300 Webro Rd., Parsippany, NJ 07054.)

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Rollei Fototechnic, Inc.

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tapestry

Object Price

$15 to $27

Object Description

With 11 new surfaces and media, Luminos has leapt from nowhere to king of the inkjet paper hill. Its Lumijet line features the usual glossy, semimatte, and transparent media. More intriguing are the Mylar-like mirror, double-weight glossy, and double-sided matte surfaces. The last lets you print an image on one side and text on the flip, among other options. Finally, fasten your seatbelt for some really out-there choices like opalescent and double-weight “tapestry” papers. Luminos even offers fabrics, including canvas and Belgian linen, that are specially impregnated to accept inkjet inks and reliably pass through printers. List prices range from $15 to $27 for 20 sheets of 8½×11. (Luminos Photo Corp., P.O. Box 158, Yonkers, NY 10705.)

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Rollei Fototechnic, Inc.

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Staticmaster brushes

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$17.95

Object Description

Antistatic brushes help control pesky dust particles by eliminating static charges, but they’re convenient only for small cleanups like front and back lens elements, 35mm negatives, and the like. For de-dusting larger beasts—say, 8×10 negatives or even the glass surfaces of contact printers and flatbed scanners (see picture)— using these ionizing brushes can be a big job. Here’s a remedy from the folks at Staticmaster: small plastic connectors that yoke two or three of the one-inch or three-inch Staticmaster brushes ($17.95 and $29.95, respectively). Using the connectors ($3) and multiple brushes, you can dispatch an 8×10 negative in just a pass or two. (NRD, P.O. Box 310, Grand Island, NY 14072.)

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Rollei Fototechnic, Inc.

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[no value]

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$89

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Can you safely drive a car and take pictures? Probably not. But an accessory that might improve your prospects is the Cruisecam, a camera support that suspends an SLR or camcorder in the space between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. The Cruisecam ($89) steadies the camera while you focus on driving. Weighing less than two pounds and supplied with padded seat guards, the Cruisecam is a calibrated bar of anodized aluminum that is claimed compatible with any automobile’s seats. It includes a pivoting head that holds the camera and a spirit level for righting it. More advanced models include stabilizing legs, dual heads for shooting with two cameras, safety straps, and more. Just the thing for getting the license plate of that guy who just cut you off! (GRP, Inc., 4075A Nine McFarland Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30004.)

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Rollei Fototechnic, Inc.

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[no value]

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$2,999

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Way back in 1932, the Robot camera factory in Germany produced the first 35mm still camera with a built-in motor drive. Befitting that pedigree, the company’s tiny new Robot SC AutoElectronic 16 × 16 mm spy camera gives you not one, but a choice of two integral motorized filmadvance systems, one frame per 1.5 sec ($2,999) or one frame per .9 sec ($3,199). With a weight of nine ounces and the size of an electronic pager, the Robot SC Auto-Electronic utilizes a 30mm f/5 Schneider Xenagon lens, TTL metering, autoexposure (plus manual), zone focusing, and its own special 35mm film cartridge system. The importer offers a lifetime warranty—even to non-spies. (Heitz Service Corp., 34-11 62nd St., Woodside, NY 11377.)

Industry

Rollei Fototechnic, Inc.

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Pro-Sync

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$125

Object Description

The latest Wein gizmo for firing a flash remotely is the Pro-Sync Hot Shoe Receiver (circled), claimed to be the smallest encoded remote flash firing device in the world. About as small and easy to use as the popular peanut-style optical slaves, the infrared Pro-Sync offers the advantage of encoding, which means that if you’re shooting with other flash-using photographers, their units won’t trigger yours—a common problem with optical slaves. The new Hot Shoe Receiver ($125) is half the size of standard Wein receivers, and will operate with any of the Wein infrared transmitters. The receiver, which runs without batteries, weighs 1.5 oz and operates at distances up to 200 ft—even around corners. (Tiffen/Saunders, 21 Jet View Dr., Rochester, NY 14624.)

Industry

Rollei Fototechnic, Inc.

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stitching

Object Price

$329

Object Description

Today’s popular “stitching” software lets you seamlessly connect individual images into 360degree digital panoramics, but to be successful, the component images must be made correctly. Among other concerns, you need to have the individual pix overlap about 18 percent. Much more or much less, and the seams start to show. To help you out, Noblex, the German panoramic specialist, makes an accessory called the VR-3 that mounts between tripod head and camera. The VR-3 ($329) delivers the convenience of calibration (in 15-degree increments) and click-stopped camera rotation for tripods that lack these important features. Result? Better 360-degree panoramics that can be more successfully repeated. The VR-3 has a locking screw to hold the camera in place, is made of black anodized aluminum, weighs 1 lb 4 oz, and adds about 1¼ in. to tripod height. (R.T.S., 40-11 Burr Dr., Deer Park, NY 11729.)

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Rollei Fototechnic, Inc.

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[no value]

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$279

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The problem with conventional booms used in portraiture? As you move the hairlight up, down, in, or out, the angle of its light changes. The new Delta 1 Convertible Boom addresses the problem with a double-beam parallelogram mechanism that lets you change the position of the hairlight without changing the angle of illumination. The boom ($279) comes with a sliding counterweight to offset heavy strobe heads or softboxes. Made of aircraft aluminum, the boom weighs 10 lbs and extends from 52 to 72 in., with an optional extension arm that gives you an additional 20 in. of reach. The nicest thing? Once you position the sliding weight to counterbalance the weight of the strobe head, your hairlight can be adjusted and repositioned without locking and unlocking. (CPM, Inc., 10830 Sanden Dr., Dallas, TX 75238.)

A pretty face, a saucy smile, and a pile of straw, for that “down-home” look, are the key elements in Jack Fenimore’s engaging portrait of model Pat Varner, which adorns our November ’48 cover. He took the shot at Sarra studios in Chicago using a 5×7 Ansco View camera fitted with a 4×5 back and unnamed lens.

Elinor Stecker-Orel takes the Ashcan School of photography all the way to the trash bin.

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The original Ashcan School (circa 1930— 1950) was a de facto American art and photography movement that depicted the seamier side of urban life—destitute derelicts and the like—as implicit social commentary. But contributing editor Elinor SteckerOrel’s object in literally collecting trash cans with her camera was simply to reveal their incredible visual diversity, and to create an amusing gallery of garbology, some of which you see before you.

Regarding those mysterious blobs in Peter Gowland's photo (“Can you solve this mystery?” “Snapshots,” September '98, page 10): if Gowland had worked in a camera store and had seen tons of examples like this, he and his wife, Alice, would not be so mystified. This is gunk on the rollers: the two white humps are where the picture separated from the developing solution.

Pros show and tell how they use precision, care, and a bigger format to achieve excellence.

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H.K.

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If 35mm easily provides convenience, autoload, vast arrays of zoom lenses, and high-speed film advance, plus universally available, superfast one-hour processing service or supercheap mailorder prints as low as 7 cents apiece, why on earth use medium format? Most 2¼ equipment and lenses are light-years more expensive, less convenient to get processed, comparatively bulky, and slower to operate than 35mm.

When the subject is great but your results are blah, don’t give up. Just watch and wait and try, try again!

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David Jensen

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Do your landscape pictures somehow fail to convey the majesty and grandeur of what you saw with your own eyes? Don’t blame Mother Nature for the fact that the scenic vistas in your photographs look rather drab and undramatic. Successful landscape photography seldom comes at the first click of the shutter—you’ve really got to work at it.

Learning the view camera isn’t all that hard. Our intrepid (but tilt-and-shift-challenged) senior editor tells you how to take the leap.

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STEP 1 : Decide Whether This Is for You!

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STEP 2: Read a Good Book (Or Two)

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STEP 3: Get a Guru (a.k.a., a Good Instructor)

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STEP 4: Take a Deep Breath and Get the Gear

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STEP 4: Take a Deep Breath and Get the Gear

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STEP 5: What Lens (or Lenses) to Get?

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STEP 6: About That Tripod of Yours...

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STEP 7: Learn to Love Upside-Downness

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STEP 8: Use Polaroid to Learn the Basics

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STEP 9: Try Readyloads and Quickloads

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STEP IO: LearnYour Movements

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STEP 10: continued

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STEP 11 : The Business About Closeup Factor...

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STEP 12: Conquering Sheetfilm Holders

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STEP 13: Getting Film Processed

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THE NEXT STEP: Where Do We All Go from Here?

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Dan Richards

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So why am I, a point-and-shoot maven and 35mm SLR lover, telling you how to get into photography with a view camera? Hint: It’s not because I’m one of the world’s leading experts on the art and science of large-format photography. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite: I’m a view camera dummy.

Serious 35mm shooters eventually ask themselves whether the step up to medium format would improve their images. It very well could, but a glance through this magazine at the many scenics, macros, still lifes, architectural studies, and portraits taken by pros and readers alike makes one wonder why more don’t simply go directly to 4×5.

No one who buys an inexpensive 4×5 wants to blow the bank on accessories. Here’s how to save big bucks, plus how to avoid being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

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Specifications for eighteen 4×5 view cameras priced under $1,850

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Ratings comparing features for eighteen 4×5 cameras

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You’ll probably need fewer lenses than you imagine. Many 4×5 shooters get by well with nothing more than a 150-, 180-, or 210mm “normal” lens (about $350 to $1,500, and equivalent to about 40-, 50-, and 65mm focal lengths in 35mm) and a wide angle of 75mm, 90mm, or 120mm (about $800 to $1,500, and equivalent, respectively, to 21-, 26-, and 35mm focal lengths in 35mm).

Whether you’re buying or just out to compare features, our complete roundup of 2¼ system cameras has the answers for you!

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Peter Kolonia

Teaser

What a year! Since our last medium-format roundup a short 12 months ago, Pentax has unveiled its revolutionary 645N, the first full-system rollfilm camera with autofocus. Hasselblad has replaced its entry-level focal-plane shuttered SLR (the 201FA) with the more advanced 202FA—and somehow managed to lower pricing, to boot! Rollei made its 6000series of rollfilm SLRs a little more accessible with the 6001, an entrylevel Rolleiflex that lacks metering, but has plenty of other nifty and attractive features.

Hands on: Fairly compact for this focal length, but with a bit more heft than expected, due to substantial construction. It mates well with Nikon cameras such as the N70 and N90S. Beautifully finished in satin black, with very legible markings for f-stops, distance, and depth of field.

Over the years, as the energy requirements needed by flash equipment, cameras, and film transport motors have broadened, battery energy storage and delivery capacities have increased to meet the demand. Let’s take a look at how much juice is expected to run typical photo equipment these days, and how it affects your selection of the batteries best suited to your needs.

How can I tell if scratches on my negatives are caused by my camera or the processing lab? Rick Rauzi, Forest City, IA It's always tricky to determine the source of scratches because often those caused by the camera and lab are similar. We examined the negatives you sent and saw that the scratches were in different places, of different lengths, and on the diagonal on the affected frames.